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Game’s social media account, plus those for KFC and Pizza Hut, plummet in followers.
Image credit: HoYoverse
Genshin Impact has been review bombed and its official Douyin (TikTok) account has lost nearly 1m followers after the recent version 4.4 livestream announced that three only dollops of Intertwined Fate material will be gifted to players during the game’s Lantern Rite event.
Before the 4.4 livestream, Genshin’s official Douyin account had 9.35m followers, but as of writing, it’s down to 8.41m.
Lantern Rite is a yearly event in Genshin Impact that celebrates Chinese New Year in-game, dishing out regular rewards like a free four-star character picker and Primogems, the currency used to buy the Intertwined Fate material used for pulling characters in the gacha system.
Although 2024’s rewards are not too much different from previous Lantern Rites, the frustration from Chinese Genshin Impact fans this year seems to stem from the lacklustre Lantern Rite rewards on top of the recent announcement that a free character skin selector is only available when purchasing a new PS5, while developer HoYoverse’s other mainline game, Honkai: Star Rail, gifted a free five-star character for simply logging into the game.
The upset doesn’t stop there, as the official Genshin Impact page on popular Chinese video sharing site BiliBili is also losing followers and getting review bombed with an increasing number of one-star reviews. Regular collaborators such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Heytea are taking collateral damage, meanwhile, as Genshin fans unfollow their official social media channels too.
It seems HoYoverse might be aware about the loss in followers, as prominent Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail leaker hxg_diluc on X spotted an increase in some suspicious bot-like accounts following Genshin’s BiliBili account after its loss of followers.
You cannot 100% sure it’s a bot, but it’s quite obvious
For example, these account only follow genshin and it’s at level 0, which means it has never interact with others, a typical bot characteristics.
You can gain experience to level up yourself by daily login, liking other… pic.twitter.com/XNfXGXCIiZ— 🍁(Waiting for The Captain) (@hxg_diluc) January 22, 2024
All this drama might be familiar to longtime Genshin Impact fans, as similar criticism was made from players around the globe after the reveal of the game’s first anniversary rewards were deemed underwhelming.
Eurogamer has contacted HoYoverse for comment.
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Jessica is a guides writer from Northern Ireland who likes screaming at her TV. Often at horror movies, occasionally at a Fortnite win. When not damaging her vocal cords, Jessica likes stressing over her inventory in RPGs, and getting lost in open worlds.
